krellor's recent activity
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Comment on Two pizzas for me - What is this article trying to say? in ~tech
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Comment on I am worthless, I couldn't write a good article or draft to save my life in ~creative
krellor Link ParentThis might be a "wherever you go, there you are" moment. I think you are just putting too much pressure on yourself. It's not about your external space, it's about your internal one and giving...This might be a "wherever you go, there you are" moment. I think you are just putting too much pressure on yourself. It's not about your external space, it's about your internal one and giving yourself permission to be silly, or to write something that sucks. You've got to embrace failure and keep going, not in some bleak grudge match fashion, but with humor. Every bad story is one developed idea to draw on later that will eventually yield a good story.
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Comment on I'm curious how people on here stay politically engaged and aware while maintaining mental health? in ~life
krellor LinkI think you've gotten a few good perspectives here, but a few things jump out at me. First, what are your news sources? Are you really consuming news, or outrage bait? Good news sources,...I think you've gotten a few good perspectives here, but a few things jump out at me.
First, what are your news sources? Are you really consuming news, or outrage bait? Good news sources, especially to cover a broad array of world events, like the NYT, NPRs Up First podcast, the NYT daily podcast, etc. will expose you to everything from Israel to Ukraine to the Darien gap, domestic issues, economics, cultural trends, and trade tensions.
So reexamine your news sources.
Second, it sounds like you need to focus on your life and how you are grounded in it. For me I consume vast amounts of news, much of it negative. But I'm rooted in my own life and perspectives, what I do to contribute good to the world, and I know enough about how all these issues are intertwined that I don't have these feelings of why is this one person, like Biden, not just fixing this outrage of the moment.
So make sure you know what good you are doing, what your limits are, and the complex nature of the world overall.
Lastly I would say that developing the toolkit to know that while it is normal and human to experience emotions when hearing about news, and I have been moved to tears at times hearing of personal accounts, it isn't healthy to let it determine your mood or mindset, and there is a skill in keeping news at an intellectual rather than emotional level.
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Comment on I am worthless, I couldn't write a good article or draft to save my life in ~creative
krellor Link ParentWhat do you mean by useful? I think when you are trying to develop creatively you just need reps in. You might write a dozen stories for every one that ends up being shared. Write a story about...What do you mean by useful? I think when you are trying to develop creatively you just need reps in. You might write a dozen stories for every one that ends up being shared.
Write a story about someone with the b list super power of giving people writers block who uses it on authors who are rude to him at conventions. Or something completely different.
For news, do you like happy, or a broader view? You could write a series of imagined vignettes from the interviews of people going through the Darien gap, or something light-hearted.
I think the key is just to write something even if you think it sucks because that is how you get the faucet going, along with things like brainstorming and steam of consciousness. You rarely just have the idea for a great work. It is iterated over time.
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Comment on I am worthless, I couldn't write a good article or draft to save my life in ~creative
krellor LinkWrite about not having anything to write. Ideas beget ideas. Having creative ideas is a combination of developed skill, experience, and priming yourself to be creative. So pick any idea, and...Write about not having anything to write.
Ideas beget ideas. Having creative ideas is a combination of developed skill, experience, and priming yourself to be creative.
So pick any idea, and develop it a bit, see if that leads to more. Change up the format. Maybe play or develop a table top game scenario, or read one and stream of consciousness a side story, or write a diverging storyline. Or watch the news and write a story based on any topic that strikes your fancy.
As soon as something seems fun, run with it.
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Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement
krellor LinkLookup your states land grant university, find their extension program website, and search for pages and data about local grass. There is an extension program that covers every county in the US,...- Exemplary
Lookup your states land grant university, find their extension program website, and search for pages and data about local grass.
There is an extension program that covers every county in the US, and most that I've seen provide data from test plots with pictures on the different types of grass in the different local zones. You will get much better data than going off of USDA zones and vendor recommendations. Look for titles like a Turf Grass Specialist. Don't be afraid to email them. Most are farmers who went and got PhD's.
Don't bother buying seed mixes that include types that the extension data shows isn't right for your area or sun exposure. Buy pure bags of what you need.
Ditto on the pre-emergence comments, unless you were really careful with a selective version. Even then, I'm dubious.
What is your lawn goal? To have a perfect golf ready lawn? Gonna be a lot of work, time money. To have something green and pleasant to walk on? Try to avoid monocultures. Find local plants that pair well like regional clovers. They can be helpful with wear and tear, and fill in spots the grass struggles.
If you keep overseeding, you shouldn't need to broadly apply herbicides to control weeds. A few selective spot treatments when you see a dandelion, creeper, or thistle, etc with the overseeding should do the trick.
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Comment on How do you organize all your electronic gadgets/accessories? in ~life.home_improvement
krellor LinkFor me the first step was really making sure I only had what was useful. After that, the right solution really depends on how much we are talking about. I found it nice to have a few of those zip...For me the first step was really making sure I only had what was useful. After that, the right solution really depends on how much we are talking about. I found it nice to have a few of those zip binders with pockets for cables and dongles, stored in a backpack, bag, or container.
But really, reducing is the biggest thing. Do you really need old power bricks? Can you replace many random chargers with one universal charger, etc.
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Comment on Solar power is changing life deep in the Amazon in ~enviro
krellor LinkArchive link for this hit by the paywall.Archive link for this hit by the paywall.
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Comment on Ford just reported a massive loss on every electric vehicle it sold in ~transport
krellor Link ParentIt could also be learning curve like for airframes, where you know your cost to produce to build, factoring all overhead, is more than you sell each unit for, but you know costs will go down with...It could also be learning curve like for airframes, where you know your cost to produce to build, factoring all overhead, is more than you sell each unit for, but you know costs will go down with assembly efficiencies, scale efficiencies, and more units sold.
What I'm dubious about is the CEOs claim that their next model will cover its own costs.
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Comment on Ford just reported a massive loss on every electric vehicle it sold in ~transport
krellor LinkThe article does clarify that these are losses at the division level, not necessarily a loss in terms of direct costs being greater than revenue from unit sales. Basically, the overhead of capital...The article does clarify that these are losses at the division level, not necessarily a loss in terms of direct costs being greater than revenue from unit sales. Basically, the overhead of capital and plant, future R&D, etc, significantly exceeds the contribution margins for each vehicle.
They need to sell more in order to defray these costs across more units.
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Comment on I don't think I'm 'grokking' how the fediverse works. (Or at least, how following federated accounts works) in ~tech
krellor Link Parent@scrambo To add on to this, I would suggest trying mbin, like at fedia.io. Open up the magazines and search for "comic" and for me the first result is comicstrips@lemmy.world. If you open it you...@scrambo
To add on to this, I would suggest trying mbin, like at fedia.io. Open up the magazines and search for "comic" and for me the first result is comicstrips@lemmy.world. If you open it you should see the posts, thumbnails, contents, and even a list of all the duplicate posts across the fediverse.I find that kbin and mbin do a better job of feathering the different fediverse content together. But yeah, activity pub is pulling together different kinds of content, and the individual softwares are giving an opinionated view of them.
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Comment on Authors of Tildes: How well do you know your own book when you publish? in ~creative
krellor Link ParentWere they writing persuasive narratives? Those are what I spend the most time on worrying about flow, though I don't do much persuasive or opinionated writing anymore.Were they writing persuasive narratives? Those are what I spend the most time on worrying about flow, though I don't do much persuasive or opinionated writing anymore.
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Comment on Authors of Tildes: How well do you know your own book when you publish? in ~creative
krellor LinkI've written textbooks and textbook companions, TTRPG systems, academic publications, and a few other eclectic things. Most of the time I know them extremely well. I have had a few papers where I...I've written textbooks and textbook companions, TTRPG systems, academic publications, and a few other eclectic things. Most of the time I know them extremely well. I have had a few papers where I completed my section and was pretty sick of it, so handed it off to collaborators to finish without me. Those I wouldn't know the details outside of my own section.
I think if you are writing something fact based, rules based, etc, where you have painstakingly examined what is correct or true, that tends to stick in your mind for a long time.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentI very much agree. I think people are so used to the Pax Americana and after glow of the end of the cold war, that they aren't sensitive to the developing animosities and need to protect national...I very much agree. I think people are so used to the Pax Americana and after glow of the end of the cold war, that they aren't sensitive to the developing animosities and need to protect national interests. As much as I wish it wasn't the case, we seem to be entering a period of international unrest.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentI agree. The CCP has stated that they wouldn't approve the sale of the algorithms in TikTok, which might be for very pedestrian reasons of disincentivizing a sale, or could indicate there is...I agree. The CCP has stated that they wouldn't approve the sale of the algorithms in TikTok, which might be for very pedestrian reasons of disincentivizing a sale, or could indicate there is something to the claims.
Either way, I agree that it is hard to really get a sense of the inner workings and objectively categorize what is happening.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor (edited )Link ParentI think it is fair to ask questions of a study and recognize its limitations. However, the CATO blog post doesn't really add much to the discussion other than raising the issue of lifetimes of the...I think it is fair to ask questions of a study and recognize its limitations. However, the CATO blog post doesn't really add much to the discussion other than raising the issue of lifetimes of the platforms and differences in users.
They don't address that the findings weren't present for control topics or the consistency of the underrepresentation for China sensitive topics, including topics that were internationally relevant during the lifetime of both platforms.
So that blog post, while a helpful perspective, is hardly a point by point refutation of the findings.
Edit: I also think it is important to scrutinize the source for conflicts of interest or bias, in addition to weighing the merits of the message. CATO is a partisan think tank, where Rutgers and NCRI don't have an official political affiliation. That said, you should scrutinize for bias from any source. In this case, Rutgers and NCRI provided a methodology to scrutinize, including replicating Tiktoks own methods and using their tools as part of the analysis. In contrast, the CATO institute gave very vague criticisms and no subsequent analysis to assess. Of course, they couldn't replicate the analysis very easily, because TikTok decided to neuter their tools rather than provide a counter analysis. Which is rather sus, I believe is the term the kids use today.
So my partisan bias detector goes off a bit more with CATO blog than the Rutgers paper.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentThe US has had laws for years regulating foreign ownership of broadcast stations. This feels like the digital equivalent.The US has had laws for years regulating foreign ownership of broadcast stations. This feels like the digital equivalent.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor (edited )Link ParentTo add on to this, TikTok content has a pro-china tilt with notably less content related to topics objectionable to the CCP, and videos supporting the side of world events that China supports. In...To add on to this, TikTok content has a pro-china tilt with notably less content related to topics objectionable to the CCP, and videos supporting the side of world events that China supports. In response to these findings, TikTok simply removed the search tools that let the analysis take place.
And as I've commented before TikTok has historically been very porous, leaking data from the US operations to Chinese based platforms.
And the history of the bill shows that as lawmakers on both sides learned more their support for the ban only increased. It was probably a bad look for TikTok to fight accusations of weaponizing their platform, by pushing an alert to their users to call Congress and pressure them. I get why they did, but talk about acting out the exact scenario some were warning about.
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Comment on US Federal Trade Commission bans new noncompete agreements in ~life
krellor Link ParentI'm not an expert on the litigation side of things, but is it easier to challenge a rule implemented by a rule making agency then to challenge a law passed by Congress? For example, the forced...I'm not an expert on the litigation side of things, but is it easier to challenge a rule implemented by a rule making agency then to challenge a law passed by Congress? For example, the forced sale/ban of TikTok is expected to result in litigation. I suppose a rule gives the plaintiffs in a case a few more arguments and lines of reasoning to challenge, but ultimately you are filling a federal lawsuit to challenge either one.
That said, it is definitely true that it is easier for an agency to change the rules than for Congress to pass a law.
And we will see how the Chevron deferance plays out. I have been watching that issue and am curious to see where it lands.
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Comment on US Federal Trade Commission bans new noncompete agreements in ~life
krellor Link ParentI don't know that there is a difference that makes a difference between a rule and a law when you are talking about rule making authority. Source Barring any major changes in the legislative or...I don't know that there is a difference that makes a difference between a rule and a law when you are talking about rule making authority.
A valid legislative rule is binding upon all persons, and on the courts, to the same extent as a congressional statute. When Congress delegates rulemaking authority to an agency, and the agency
adopts legislative rules, the agency stands in the place of Congress and makes law.” National Latino Media Coalition v. Federal Communications
Commission, 816 F.2d 785, 788 (D.C. Cir. 1987)Barring any major changes in the legislative or judicial branches, rules are laws and recorded as such in the CFR or Federal Register.
Over employed, meaning having multiple jobs. Drives me crazy when people don't define acronyms. Tildes doesn't charge per character to post.